Joint fits reduce median errors for broad model flares of the fitted shape in three AU Mic TESS sectors
Errors in flare equivalent duration (ED) can change measured event rates and energy distributions. We test a local joint fit of a flare and a cubic background on three public AU Mic TESS light curves from sectors 1, 27, and 95. We add 4,800 exposure-integrated model flares and rerun an unchanged detector. The fit receives the detected peak, with free peak and width. The main test has width 20 minutes and input ED of 10 or 20 seconds, with the same input shape as the fit. It detects 594 of 600 injections, and all 594 joint fits pass the numerical success rule. On these same trials, median absolute fractional ED error falls from 31.5 percent for a clipped-spline residual sum to 8.6 percent for the joint fit. The count within 20 percent of input ED rises from 132 to 483. Three joint-fit ratios remain below 0.5 or above 2. Changes to the input decay shape leave joint-fit median ratios of 0.759 and 1.168. For the faster decay, the two methods have almost equal median absolute errors. Short gaps remove more than 5 percent of input ED in 24 main trials. The methods differ in both background treatment and estimation of missing light. This controlled test supports improved ED measurement for the tested signals on these fixed backgrounds. It does not establish accurate energy estimates for all real flares. The package contains source data, provenance, code, all trials, figures, and reproduction instructions.
AU Mic · TESS · stellar flares · equivalent duration · injection and recovery · flare measurement · background fitting
References
5- usesA fixed TESS search gives an AU Mic event rate ratio of 1.21 for 2025 versus 2018–2020 under a Poisson model sci:sha256:8b4b6b4f40a1eb15d3b74e28beb6735d2a22ee4d2871971ded8f5c20ea4d07f8
We use its three source TESS FITS files, data provenance, and unchanged detection code. We test a method to reduce the broad-flare ED loss found in that study.
- usesdoi:10.1093/mnras/stu1889
Pitkin et al. (2014) established joint fits of polynomial backgrounds and flare models. We use this model structure in a weighted least-squares measurement test. The general joint-fit idea is prior work.
- usesdoi:10.1088/0004-637X/797/2/122
The injected and fitted standard flare shape follows the empirical equations of Davenport et al. (2014). We implement its exposure integral independently.
- doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ac23ca
Gilbert et al. (2022) provide prior work on AU Mic TESS flares and cadence effects.
- usesdoi:10.17909/t9-nmc8-f686
This is the official MAST data collection for the public TESS light curves. The package records the exact three files, URLs, and SHA-256 hashes.
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